GREENSBORO, N.C. – Top seed UNCG defeated Western Carolina, the No. 2 seed, 3-1 on Friday afternoon in the fourth game of the Southern Conference Softball Championship game at the UNCG Softball Stadium in Greensboro, North Carolina. With the win, the Spartans (33-15) advance to their third straight championship, while Western Carolina (26-24) takes on No. 4 seed Mercer (24-22) in the fifth game of the tournament, an elimination contest slated for Friday at 3 p.m.
 
UNCG got on the board first, plating a run in the bottom of the second inning. With one out, sophomore Maycin Brown, a second-team all-conference infielder, singled to right field. Catamounts starting pitcher Savannah Rice got Jasmine Palmer to pop up in the next at bat, bringing Katie Stettler to the plate with two outs. Stettler, a senior outfielder, was hit by a pitch, moving Brown to second base. A single up the middle by freshman shortstop Brooklyn Maxwell in the next at bat allowed Brown to score from second, giving the Spartans a 1-0 lead.
 
With one out in the bottom of the fourth, Stettler hit a solo home run to deep center field, just out of reach of Jeralynn Wells, the center fielder for the Catamounts, doubling the lead. The Spartans threatened to do more damage, but the Catamounts were able to get out of a jam, stranding two on base.
 
UNCG added another run in the bottom of the fifth inning as Hannah Kincer, the cleanup hitter, hit a solo home run over the left field fence to push the lead to 3-0.
 
Western Carolina first baseman Myra Twitty broke up SoCon Pitcher and Freshman of the Year Morgan Scott’s shutout, hitting a home run to center field with two outs in the top of the seventh, but Scott induced a popup to end the inning and secure the 3-1 win.
 
Scott allowed just two hits in a dominant performance in the circle. The Irmo, South Carolina, native struck out four and walked one in the complete game.
 
Scoring Summary
Bottom 2^nd – UNCG 1, Western Carolina 0: Maycin Brown singled, advanced to second when Katie Stettler was hit by a pitch and came around to score on a single up the middle from Brooklyn Maxwell.  
Bottom 4^th – UNCG 2, Western Carolina 0: Katie Stettler hit a solo home run to deep center field.
Bottom 5^th – UNCG 3, Western Carolina 0: Hannah Kincer hit a solo home run over the left field fence.  
Top 7^th – UNCG 3, Western Carolina 1: Myra Twitty hit a solo home run to center field.